I picked this book up with hopeful anticipation having already read and enjoyed another book by Elana K. Arnold.  I was not disappointed.

Living in an RV is the last thing 12-year-old Odette Zyskowski wants—in fact, it tops her list of “things that aren’t fair.” But her father took a “voluntary layoff” from work, and the family is selling its California house to care for Odette’s ailing grandmother in Washington State. The family sets off on an eventful road trip. Between cramped quarters, car trouble, her parents’ rocky marriage, and endless hours of driving, Odette is miserable, and everyone knows it. Arnold’s The Question of Miracles dealt equally well with topics of leaving home and losing a loved one, and she has a knack for sympathetically expressing Odette’s confusing emotions about those events, as well as feeling disconnected from her best friend and liking a boy she meets. Arnold’s descriptive prose and short, episodic chapters warmly relay the family’s struggles.

There is one reason, and one reason only, why I will not put this book in my school library. Ms. Arnold has written a number of books for young adults and is trying her hand at middle grade fiction.  Because this book asks 4th and 5th graders to wrestle with the question of doctor assisted suicide (of Odette’s grandmother, because it is legal in WA) I cannot in good conscience place it on my shelves. Children ages 10 & 11 should not have to picture their own grandmothers taking the pills that will kill them.

This short books five chapters include: Cheer as a Career, Professional Cheerleader, Coaching and Teaching, Behind the Scenes, and Cheer Business. I was pleasantly surprised by the content of this book because I had never thought past the very visible cheerleader. A career in this profession can include being a teacher and or coach for cheerleaders, a choreographer, a judge for competitions, a designer of uniforms and accessories, being a professional cheerleader, and operating a gym or cheer leading training center. A career in cheer requires skills including: “working together as a team, encourage others, manage busy schedules and organize events.” (7)

Professional cheerleaders practice during the week, spend time warming-up before the game, cheer for several hours during the game, often sign autographs after the game, and attend other publicity events. They usually need to have a second job, as professional cheerleading does not pay well.

in addition to the obvious job of being a high school, college, or professional cheer leader for a national football or basketball team, there is also work on the CHEER CHANNEL – an Internet show. “The Cheer Channel website has a lot of content for teens and tweens. It has cheer and dance news, fashion news, cheerleader profiles, and live and taped competitions.” (24) AND closer to home (Washington state),  “CHEER Seattle is a nonprofit adult cheerleading squad. They do not perform for a sports team. Instead the squad performs to raise awareness and money for charities.” (28)

There are usually one or two paragraphs next to a full-page photo.

Here is a brief overview of the time period in United States history dealing with the post Civil War of the 1800s. “In December of 1865, [eight months after the end of the Civil War,] the Thirteenth Amendment  was added to the Constitution. It abolished slavery in the United States.” (10) The former slaves were now free, but without jobs, land, or a place to live, life was not any better than it had been. “In 1865 African Americans were allowed to apply for land in the South. Most of the land had been abandoned or taken during the war.(14)…  But by the middle of 1866, half of this land had been returned to its original white owners. “(15) The Freedmen’s Bureau sought to help fight jobs, build schools and churches, and settle disputes between freed slaves and white landowners. Laws known as Black Codes began to appear which restricted what African Americans were allowed to do in the South, in favor of segregation. President “Johnson’s approach of letting the South  control how African Americans were treated was not working.” (23) The Ku Klux Klan burnt houses, schools, churches, and African Americans. “The Ku Klux Klan killed 20,000 men, women, and children between 1868 and 1871.” (24) The United States Congress stepped in with the Civil Rights Act of 1866,  the Reconstruction Act of 1867, the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, and the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. Each one of these helped, but not by as much as they were intended to do. Southern whites used violence and intimidation over African Americans. African Americans were able to go to school, but their other rights were very controlled.

Spread throughout this book there are 6 side bars dealing with such topics as ‘Frederick Douglass’ and the ‘Challenges of Voting’.

Between chapters there are opportunities for further reflection and research.

The text is written in simple sentences which get the point across. The illustrations are historical reproductions from the era.

The book ends with a two-page outline recapping the book’s content, two-page “Stop and Think” section, a glossary, an index, and two web sites.

I have watched various Hollywood movies of this battle, but this graphic telling of it definitely put things into perspective for me.

“HITLER TOLD SKORZENY THAT HE WOULD TRAIN AND LEAD GERMAN SOLDIERS WHO SPOKE PERFECT ENGLISH TO MASQUERADE AS AMERICAN SOLDIERS. THEY WOULD WEAR AMERICAN UNIFORMS AND DRIVE AMERICAN VEHICLES AND WOULD CAPTURE BRIDGES, CHANGE ROAD SIGNS, AND SPREAD FALSE RUMORS AND PANIC IN THE AMERICAN REAR LINES. “(8) Hitler would not budge on his “Watch the Rhine” plan in December 1944, even though “FIELD MARSHAL GERD VON RUNDSTEDT …AND FIELD MARSHALL WALTER MODEL… FELT THE PLAN WAS TOO AMBITIOUS…” (9)

The retelling of this piece of war history goes back and forth between the German and American forces’ various victories, surrenders, defeats, massacres, and lack of food, fuel and supplies. Week by week, sometimes day by day, sometimes hour by hour, and even inch by inch the troops moved from one strong hold to another. The graphics in this retelling are as much about facial expressions, body postures, and tank and troop movements, as it is about the dialog of various generals. “TO THE SOUTH, PATTON GATHERED HIS FORCES TO DRIVE IN THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF WHAT IN NOW CALLED, “THE BULGE.” THESE FORCES INCLUDED TH 26TH AND 80TH INFANTRY DIVISIONS, BUT IN THE FRONT WAS HIS VERY ABLE 4TH ARMORED DIVISION.” (46) The scope of sequence of these weeks in the snow and cold of December 1944-January 1945 (differing from the warm summer/fall weather of D-Day) are much more understandable than I have ever experienced through any other retelling. The Battle of the Bulge ended January 16, 1945, with Germany surrendering a few months later on May 7, 1945.

Casualties for the Americans, British and Germans are each listed in wounded, killed, and missing. The numbers are in the tens of thousands. Then, there is a brief  “AFTER THE WAR, THE PEOPLE OF BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG BEGAN THE PROCESS OF REBUILDING THEIR HOMES AND VILLAGES, THE MARSHALL PLAN, WHICH BEGAN IN 1948, WAS AN AMERICAN INITIATIVE TO AID AND REBUILD WAR-DEVASTATED EUROPE, MODERNIZE AND BUILD EUROPEAN INDUSTRY AND TRADE, AND PREVENT THE SPREAD OF SOVIET COMMUNISM.” (94)

Page 96 lists the Allied and Axis Divisions, with pages 97-101 illustrating the different U.S. and German tanks used in this battle.

We have yet another book on a Native American tribe featuring them wearing regalia, as if it is what they still wear in everyday modern life. Not true. Do not get me wrong, the regalia is wonderful, but these modern photos mislead our youth into thinking Native Americans still wear this style of clothing daily.

This book gives very general information about the Nez Perce tribe of the 1700-1800s before white settlers came. The page headings include: Nez Perce Territory, Home Life, What They Ate, Daily Life, Made by Hand, Spirit Life, Storytellers, Fighting for Land,  Back in Time ( a timeline), and The Nez Perce Today ( again a photo of a Nez Perce in regalia).

I shared this book with my Native American- Nez Perce colleague from a Native American school.  He was only disagreed with one point, on page 16, ” The Nez Perce were named for shell bead decorations in their noses.” According to my friend, this was not the Nez Perce but a totally different tribe altogether. He was disappointed that this inaccurate information is still being taught.

This is the sixth book in the Furry and Flo series. Author – Thomas Kingsley Troupe does a nice job of recapping the vital information from book one giving the reader enough background to make this a book that can stand alone from the others in this series. Readers of the series will enjoy the golem, the latest monster to escape through the portal, from another world, hidden behind the washing machine in Flo’s apartment building’s basement laundry room. In previous books, the portal has let giant spiders, goblins, mummies, and skeletons escape. The giant golem, made of rocks, is on a mission from his master Krigg to bring back Wolf Son, AKA Furry, who is a werewolf, when not in human form. Garvel, the golem, only wants to take Furry back to Krigg because Krigg has promised to give Garvel back his brothers and sisters. Flo is drawn into Garvel’s problem. She wants to help him, but Furry isn’t so sure. What does Krigg want with Furry? It could be a trap, but Flo convinces a reluctant Furry to help. To get Garvel back through the small portal opening, Flo and Furry have Garvel stand inside a dumpster then pull out the magic pin which keeps Garvel together. Boulders, once Garvel, tumble into the dumpster which Flo and Furry push through the portal. Back on the other side of the portal, Flo and Furry a-line the boulders before replacing the magic pin bringing Garvel back to life. Garvel leads them to Krigg. Flo notices Krigg is wearing a belt of magic pins. Krigg commands golem Number 20, made of metal, to hack Garvel apart for not following his orders.  Afterwards,  Number 20 proceeds to attack Flo. At this  “Garvel gave the iron golem a push backward, and Number 20 tripped over his own legs. He fell against the far wall, smashing a giant hole in the rocky border. Garvel moved to help his brother up, but when he saw through the hole in the wall, he stopped in his tracks. Number 20 turned to look too.” (92) There in pieces were the other  eighteen golems. Now, Flo commands Number 20 to get the pins from Krigg. Much to Krigg’s dismay, Number 20 is no longer under his control. Krigg drops the pins and runs for his life. Flo, Furry, Number 20, and Garvel begin to piece all of the disassembled golems back together, with Garvel and Number 20 doing the heaviest parts. They finally have them all together but one. They can’t find the pin to bring it back to life. Flo and Furry go to look for the missing pin inside of Krigg’s cottage. There they find the missing pin, but also a WANTED poster for Furry, put out by Furry’s father. “This poster thing says my dad will pay a fortune in bellims to whoever manages to return his son–and the portal shard.’  ” (112)  It is getting late, Flo needs to get back home. When Flo and Furry get back to the portal they find that Krigg has smashed it. Will Flo and Furry be trapped in this other world forever?

After this cliff hanger ending there are 3 “Questions form Flo” and 3 “Prompts from Furry” for discussion and or writing.

One action packed black and white illustration per chapter.

Do you remember the first time you were introduced, in person, to an orchestra one instrument at a time? What a thrill to hear the instrument and what it was capable of playing! In this book, an orchestra conductor does just that. Since the reader can not hear the instrument, Gabriel Alborozo has invented a colorful visual for each instrument’s sound.The timpani have bluish fingery clouds, while the cymbals have bright golden yellow sound shock waves, and the xylophone has multi-colored confetti floating in the air. After the percussion section comes the brass, then the strings, wood winds, and a piano and harp. Finally the conductor asks, ”  ‘So let’s see how they all fit together, shall we? One, two, three…’   MAGNIFICO! ”

The finally page, ” Clap  clap  clap  clap  clap  clap  clap  clap  clap  clap…”

The Civil Rights Movement Through the Eyes of Lyndon B. Johnson is a non-fiction title in the Presidential Perspectives series which also includes The Civil War Through the Eyes of Abraham Lincoln, The Louisiana Purchase Through the Eyes of Thomas Jefferson, The New Nation Through the Eyes of George Washington, September 11 Through the Eyes of George W. Bush, World War I Through the Eyes of Woodrow Wilson, World War II Through the Eyes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and The Cuban Missile Crisis Through the Eyes of John F. Kennedy. This series supports the Common Core State Standards for grades 3-6.

The Civil Rights Movement Through the Eyes of Lyndon B. Johnson is an historical look at the turbulent early half of the 1960s, and contains powerful black and white photos of  civil rights protests in Birmingham, the march on Selma,  the National Guard deployed in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral cortege in Atlanta. The text also contains a timeline, glossary, index, and a “Stop and Think” section that would be helpful in the classroom. Additionally, there is a reference section with both text and web sources for deeper study.

Investigating Seasons is a non-fiction title in the What Are Earth’s Cycles? series which includes Investigating Animal Life Cycles, Investigating Plant Life Cycles, Investigating the Carbon Cycle, Investigating the Rock Cycle, Investigating the Water Cycle.  This easy to read text is filled with large color photos, a glossary, an index, and a reference section that includes both print and web sources.